The Globe and Mail - 06.03.2020

B4| REPORTONBUSINESS O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| FRIDAY,MARCH6,2020

OPINION&ANALYSIS

DILBERT

T

he pointy-heads at the Can-
ada Revenue Agency have a
strange sense of humour.
They kicked off tax filing sea-
son by telling Canadians they’ve
made filing a return faster and
easier this year. That must be why
the CRA doubled the length of in-
come tax returns from four to
eight pages – in addition to all
those fun and user-friendly
schedules, worksheets and infor-
mation forms, of course.
It’s nice to see the CRA taking
our complaints about convoluted
forms and guides to heart. “Our
government is committed to
modernizing the CRA and mak-
ing sure it provides people-first
service to Canadians,” Minister of
National Revenue Diane Le-
bouthillier said in a recent state-
ment.
Folks, it’s hard to know wheth-

er to laugh or cry. But if the Liber-

al government is serious about

putting people first, the solution

is simple: Make the CRA do our

taxes for us.

It’s not a stretch. The CRA auto-

matically receives information

about the employment and in-

vestment income for most Cana-

dians, so let its computers fill out

the forms and do the math on our

behalf for free. Numerous coun-

tries use such systems, so why not

Canada?

Some of us learned how to do

our taxes in high school. But in re-

cent years, filling out a paper re-

turn has become so complicated

and stressful only a masochist

would attempt it.

It’s unseemly because the CRA

is effectively pushing people to

pay third parties, typically soft-

ware providers or professional

tax preparers, fees to access their

own money. (Yes, there’s free

software but there’s generally no

phone support if you get stuck,

and incessant pushing to upgrade

to paid versions.)

Consider this: 62 per cent of

people who file tax returns are

owed money fromthe govern-

ment. The average refund was

$1,740 last year. One would be

hard-pressed to find a Canadian

who doesn’t believe that every

penny counts.

“I think there is value in the

software, but it does raise the fun-

damental question of why any-

one should actually have to pay

anything to get their own money

back,” said Jamie Golombek, ma-

naging director of tax and estate

planning at Canadian Imperial

Bank of Commerce.

“It would be wonderful to see a

situation where, effectively, you

get a prepopulated digital return,

which has all your income and

deductions that it [the CRA]

knows about there. And you ei-

ther sign off on it, ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ or

add any additional lines that are

relevant and then submit it. That

would be the best-case scenario.”

Already 36 countries, including

Britain, Germany, Japan and the

Netherlands, allow return-free

tax filing for some taxpayers, ac-

cording to the Tax Policy Center’s

briefing book.

In Sweden, individuals receive

a text message and simply reply

“yes” or “no.” In Estonia, mean-

while, it takes the average person

five minutes to file their return,

according to The Atlantic.

Such systems spare many indi-

viduals the agony of preparing

their own returns because there’s

an assumption that all taxes on

income are paid at source, Mr. Go-

lombek said.

A hassle-free system could also

exist in Canada since most people

receive tax slips each year. Our

employers and money managers

automatically file that same in-

come information to the CRA,

meaning it’s redundant for Otta-

wa to expect individuals to pre-

pare and file a return.

Already, the CRA does allow

some people to autofill their re-

turns as long as they have a regis-

tered account and are using NET-

FILE-certified software. But when

I tried to register for an account

numerous times this week, I kept

getting a warning on my comput-

er stating: “This site can’t provide

a secure connection.” It’s not ex-

actly a ringing endorsement.

The point remains, however, if

the CRA can autofill returns for

some Canadians, it should auto-

matically do it for all of us. Indi-

viduals could then review and

tweak their returns as required

without incurring any costs.

At present, the only people the

CRA is putting first are those in

the tax-preparation industry, and

they’re profiting handsomely off

Ottawa’s confusion and decades-

long push for people to file elec-

tronic returns.

Currently, almost 90 per cent

of Canadians file their taxes elec-

tronically. It’s also estimated that

Canadians spend $7-billion com-

plying with the personal income

tax system each year, according

to the Fraser Institute.

No Canadian should have to in-

cur out-of-pocket costs to file a re-

turn and get a refund. Paying tax-

es is painful enough.

TheCRAshoulddoourtaxesforus

It’spainfultohave

topaytogetourown

moneyback,sohere’s

whythegovernment

shoulddothemath

onourbehalf–forfree

RITA
TRICHUR

OPINION

It’snotastretch.The

CRAautomatically

receivesinformation

abouttheemployment

andinvestmentincome

formostCanadians,so

letitscomputersfillout

theformsanddothe

mathonourbehalffor

free.Numerous

countriesusesuch

systems,sowhynot

Canada?

T

he electricity system in On-
tario – and indeed across
North America – is under-
going a rapid transformation as
innovative technologies disrupt
old ways of doing business.
At the same time,govern-
ments and regulators are rightly
concerned about maintaining
the affordability of the system,
even as they ensure its reliability
and sustainability.
The emerging technologies of
grid-scale energy storage will
help us meet all three of those
goals, if we’re smart.
This innovative technology
will allow us to align the supply
of electricity more precisely with
customers’ demand for it. The
vast amount of energy currently
wasted in Ontario’s electricity
system can be stored for later
use.
In doing so, we can save mon-
ey for consumers, enhance the
reliability of the system with
backup power and reduce the
need for additional generation at
peak times.
However, the provincial gov-
ernment and electricity regula-
tors need to take action to ensure
the full value that storage tech-
nology can provide to the system
is realized.
People and businesses in On-
tario remain concerned about
their energy bills. To reduce pric-
es, thegovernment has been
forced to massively subsidize the
cost of power. Ontario taxpayers
are on the hook for an estimated
$5.6-billion this year alone just to
maintain our residential and
small-business bills at the cur-
rent rates.
That figure is likely to grow as
the government looks for ways to
meet its commitment to reduce
households’ power bills by 12 per
cent.
The provincial government
has told all participants in the
system to find savings. Develop-
ing a fleet of storage projects
could contribute to that effort
with a low-carbon option that
would produce substantial net
savings to lower bills.
A big – if not the biggest –
challenge for Ontario’s grid is
that our supply is not aligned
with demand. We are inefficient
and waste a lot of energy, and
this costs all of us a significant
sum.
We’re now able to address a
fundamental shortcoming of the
traditional electricity grid: that
electrons have to be used as soon
as they are generated. We’re good
at storing water; we’re good at
storing food. But until now, we
hadn’t conquered storing elec-

tricity at the grid level.

We can be world leaders in

new energy storage technology.

And we can do so while dramat-

ically improving the efficiency of

our electricity system and reduc-

ing costs to consumers.

However, we need to show

some guts and seize the mo-

ment. We can’t be afraid of inno-

vation. We need to embrace it,

and make it work for us.

Projects that combine renew-

ables and storage are beating out

proposals for conventional gen-

eration in markets around the

world. Stand-alone storage pro-

jects also complement a broad

array of generation options, in-

cluding Ontario’s nuclear fleet

and hydroelectric facilities.

As the disruption in the power

sector mounts, business and po-

litical leaders in this province

have a choice. We can own the

change and reap the rewards, or

we will have it foisted upon us

and pay the costs.

There are a number of tech-

nologies that can be deployed.

Lithium ion batteries are increas-

ingly cost-effective both on the

grid and in industrial and even

residential settings. Companies

can use electricity to pump water

or air into storage facilities dur-

ing those hours when demand –

and therefore wholesale prices –

are low, and release the power

when it is needed. Flywheels help

the grid managers maintain the

smooth reliability of the system

on a minute-by-minute basis.

Ontario’s Independent Elec-

tricity System Operator recently

released its annual planning out-

look that shows continued sur-

pluses in the amount of energy

we have the capability to pro-

duce.

The IESO noted, however, that

the energy is not being produced

when we need to consume. Stor-

age is the solution to this prob-

lem.

We need policies and regulato-

ry approaches that recognize the

value of storage, both as a pro-

vider of power and also as a cus-

tomer. Storage also provides low-

cost solutions to help grid man-

agers ensure the efficient per-

formance of the system – and

that function also provides value.

Energy Storage Canada last

year released a “road map” that

provides a path through which

energy storage can maximize

value and the efficiency of the

grid for ratepayers.

A key recommendation is for

the province of Ontario to estab-

lish a co-ordinating committee

that would include government

as well as representatives from

the IESO and the Ontario Energy

Board to guide the update of reg-

ulation for storage facilities.

Such changes would also dem-

onstrate the province’s commit-

ment to maintaining a power

system that is more than 90-per-

cent carbon-free.

With a low carbon focus, our

leaders can show the way at

home and export our know-how

to the world. This effort can

make a difference way beyond

our own country’s targets.

Canada is famous for its trad-

ing capacity and peacekeeping

strength around the world.

Let’s extend that strength to

the sustainability of our planet.

Our economy and society de-

pend on it.

EnergystorageinnovationcanalignOntario’ssupplywithdemand

ANNETTEVERSCHUREN

OPINION

ChiefexecutiveofficerofNRStorInc.
andchairoftheMaRsDiscovery
Districtboard.Sheisalsoformer
CEOofHomeDepotCanada
andAsia.

Awindturbineisseenat

thePickeringNuclear

PowerGeneratingStation

nearTorontolastApril.

Ontario’sIndependent

ElectricitySystem

Operatorrecently

releaseditsannual

report,whichshows

continuedsurpluses

intheamountofenergy

wehavethecapability

toproduce.

CARLOSOSORIO/REUTERS